Cut the header from 2 x 12 lumber and to a length of the rough opening plus 6 inches.
Rough opening for a 16 x 8 garage door.
Frame the rough opening to 3 inches wider than the garage door size you have selected.
Nail or screw 2 x 6 jambs to the framing on the top first and then the sides of the rough opening.
That for a 16 foot wide garage door the header should be at minimum 9 inches longer than the door.
Framing rough opening sizes are really quite simple.
It is important to note.
If it s 9ft the opening must be 9ft 3 inches and so on.
You should add 2 1 2 to the height of the actual door.
Width of rough opening the width of the rough opening should be 3 inches greater than the width of the garage door you are purchasing.
99 of the residential garage doors that we run across are different than these widths.
Just add 2 to the width of the actual door size.
This will give you room to space the door frame off of the sub floor.
After installing the jambs your garage door opening should now be the same size as the garage door.
The rough opening is equal to the size of the door but you need to figure back head and side room before choosing and installing the new garage door.
The height of the rough opening would be the height of the garage door plus the thickness of whatever you are putting underneath the header in addition to the thickness of the mortar etc.
Width of garage door opening standard widths are 8 9 10 12 14 16 17 and 18 height of the garage door opening standard residential heights are 7 7 6 8 header the header is ideally a minimum 12 wide micro laminated beam that spans the width of the garage door opening.
Standard garage doors in our area are 8 9 16 and 18 wide.
Getting the rough opening size right the first time will save you from frustration when installing your doors.
Install the header on top of the trimmers and nail.
Next you will need to know your door height.
If you are installing a 9 wide door the opening will be 9 3 wide.
For instance if the width of the garage door is 8ft the rough opening should be 8ft 3 inches wide.
If you are installing a 9 wide door the opening will be 9 3 wide.
The 16 7 opening should be after the header and all the trim work is installed.
Step 1 measure the old door if you are replacing an existing door with one of the same size or the new door of choice if you are building a new garage.